Simon Averill 'Splitter'

S I M O N A V E R I L L

S P L I T T E R

Reactor
55 x 81 cm
acrylic on panel
2

‘I’m trying to imagine light as something tangible; as if you could pick it up and hold it in the palm of your hand; this is the
territory where what has been seen, memory and the imagined co-exist’.
Simon Averill. 2014
Simon Averill’s paintings re-consider what might take place within momentary instances of seeing; they are an exploration of the
ways in which sight, memory and perception interact. The works are a translation of, and receptiveness to, intimate time spent
within place and nature. Nature is of course, always changing, always in flux. The paintings respond to these unpredictable, often
beguiling or fleeting, moments of naturally occurring optical phenomenon and distortions to the senses. Experienced physically
and biologically, in place and in time, something is present that was not there before. The experience is recovered after a lapse
in time, through memory.
The title of the exhibition - “Splitter” - refers to an occurrence when a photon of light comes into contact with a clear reflective
surface and splits the beam of light in two. A photon might pass through this surface or it might bounce back; it’s impossible to
know with any certainty which of these it will do.
In reference to this, the work engages with an uncertainty and fallibility of seeing and the senses. The paintings in the exhibition
resist any singular reading or interpretation. Instead they allow for a diffusion and intermingling of multiple, non-hierarchical
entry and exit points. Within these paintings, particles cluster and scatter across the glassy surface of the work. A translucent
glazed overlay seals the paintings, adding luminosity and a synthetic soft glow. This is iridescent work, realised through slender and
elongated landscape proportions. The work itself seems to be in possession of agency and attitude. Colours have shimmering or
reflective characteristics and are fluid. An encounter is saccadic. It is noted that humans and many animals rarely look at a scene
in fixed steadiness. Instead, quick, simultaneous movements of both eyes in the same direction ensue. In an encounter with this
work, eyes are inclined to move around the surface.
Averill’s exquisite abstractions are less concerned with meaning and representation and do not attempt to replicate already
settled forms. Rather the work is concerned with a dissemination of phenomena through a ‘tactile’ seeing, affect and embodiment.
Seeing, like memory, is of course, capable of mistakes and of being wrong. In actuality we perceive very little of what is
being looked at and like memory, perception is often susceptible to misconception. In human eyesight, the density of receptors
on the retina only allows us to see a small fragment in high resolution. The fovea is only capable of resolving about 3 degrees of
visual angle - which is about the size of an old 50p coin held at arm’s length. The eye has to constantly move around to build up
an overall image that the brain can then reassemble and make sense of.
In Averill’s paintings distance and division of fore and background are difficult to gauge. A dynamic iteration of data, fast shape
or form, synthetic space or scattered light, heightens abstraction and ambiguity. The work does not inhabit space easily; it might
be said that the work emits a restlessness. Cell fragments split, agglutinate and form intricate meshes; nerve cells intensely
wire together or intra-connect. The paintings would seem to oscillate, moving continuously and with such rapidity so as to be
indiscernible to the eye. Shapes and lines shimmer and flicker and at the same time are calm, persistent, keen. A relay of activity
occurs between painting and viewer. The eyes and body would seem to connect with positions and movements of the painting. It
might also be said that the paintings in turn connect with the position and movement of a viewer. There is almost the sense that
the work shifts shape when not looked at, teasing at the limits of our peripheral vision. Looking at the paintings is compelling; it
could be said we are woven into them or that the paintings somehow ‘get into us’. As Teresa Brennan notes, “the transmission of
affect, if only for an instant, alters the biochemistry and neurology of the subject. The “atmosphere” or the environment literally
gets into the individual. Physically and biologically, something is present that was not there before”.
Gillian Wylde. 2014. Gillian Wylde is an artist and senior lecturer in Fine Art at Falmouth University
3

Small Divider
30 x 30 cm
acrylic on panel
Long Division
29 x 109 cm
acrylic on panel
4

5

6

The Small Stuff
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
7

Splitter
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
8

9

10

Rapid Eye Movement
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
11

Eyeful
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
12

13

14

Shifter
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
15

Transition
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
16

17

18

Light Layers
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
19

Night Vision I
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
20

21

Descender
53 x 33 cm
acrylic on panel
22

Refractor
61 x 44 cm
acrylic on panel
23

Time and Motion 1
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
24

25

26

Time and Motion II
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
27

Time and Motion III
61 x 183 cm
acrylic on panel
28

29

30

Selected Biography
Simon Averill lives and works in Cornwall. For nearly 30 years his work has been informed by his relationship with landscape
and his immediate surroundings.
Simon was born in Brighton in 1961. He studied Fine Art at Brighton Polytechnic and graduated with Honours. In 1986 he
established a Printmaking Workshop near Penzance which he ran until 1990. Since 1989 he has taught part time at Falmouth
University, where he is now a senior lecturer, specialising in painting and drawing. He has been a member of the Newlyn Society of
Artists since the late 1980s and has been exhibiting his paintings extensively in the UK, Europe and USA since 1984. He has had
ten one man shows (5 in London) and has also been included in a number of selected exhibitions, including the Royal Academy
of Arts, ‘Discerning Eye’ exhibition at the Mall Gallery, Royal West of England Academy in Bristol, Sherborne House, Plymouth
Museum, Plymouth Arts Centre, Truro Museum, Falmouth Art Gallery, Newlyn Art Gallery and the Festival Hall in Chicago, USA.
Night Vision II
110 x 123 cm
acrylic on panel
31

Published by Millennium to coincide with the exhibition ‘Splitter’ by Simon Averill
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted
in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publishers
Publication produced by Impact Printing Services (www.impactprintingservices.co.uk)
Photography by Lucie Averill
ISBN 978-1-905772-65-0
M I L L E N N I U M
Street-an-Pol
St. Ives
Cornwall
01736 793121
mail@millenniumgallery.co.uk
www. m i l l e n n i u m g a l lery.co.uk